Should You Get a New Puppy or an Adult Dog?
Many dog owners and experts would tell you that choosing the right dog breed is the most important decision to make when one decides to own a dog. While there is no doubt about that, most dog owners do not consider if a young puppy or adult dog is more suitable for them.
On the whole, most dog owners believe that bringing up a puppy is an advantage because this means that you guide its growth and well being. You have the ability to raise it according to what you want. This means you can ensure that it is properly nurtured with the right dog food, the necessary vaccinations given and heartworm prevention done properly at this early stage. Having your puppy personally trained is also a plus since you can teach him exactly what you want.
It is usually easier for a young puppy to adapt to a new home when compare to older dogs, nevertheless, puppies bring along destructive behavior problems when they are young and damages are unavoidable. They need to be housebroken and house training needs a lot of time, effort, and patience from the owner.
There is no assurance of what a puppy will look like when it grows up; especially if it is a mixed breed. Then again, his temperament and characteristics might change when he grows into an adult. It is advisable to bring your puppy home when it has reach ten weeks old. Puppies need a lot of time to be cared for by their mothers. This is a crucial stage for them. This allows them to gain a psychological advantage for both puppy and for the mother dog.
Most pet owners love how puppies can be entertaining for the entire family. They are very cute and adorable, and this is an attraction for both children and grown ups. Puppies can be easily accepted as one of the family.
Then again, raising a puppy requires much more effort and attention from its owner. It can be a difficult, frustrating and time consuming process. Destruction is inevitable in the house ranging from carpet stains during house training to chew up shoes and furniture when he is teething. All these may be unbearable and difficult to achieve if you are one with a busy schedule.
Getting an Adult Dog - A well trained adult dog is an easy fit into any family. You would generally have less of a fuss taking care of an adult dog. They already have an established behavior that you can understand. By being with the dog more often, you would have a clearer idea of its temperament is.
One big consideration is that the personality and characteristic of the adult dog is relatively unknown and need to be carefully evaluated. A new owner should take note of its habits and mood swings. Hopefully you can acquire this valuable data from the previous owners of the dog. Some adult dogs may have some behavioral issues. It is vital that you know or learn how to handle them before you commit to bringing home that dog.
You still need a considerable amount of time and effort to get to know your adult dog and for him to be comfortable with you. You need to introduce an adult dog to your children and other household members before bringing him into the home. This would help the dog familiarize itself with them. It can help your dog to identify family members and prevent it from hurting or scaring them.
An adult dog may not need your full attention unlike puppies, and would require lesser trips to the vet. As far as an adult dog is concern, his physical characteristics will not surprise you and largely remains the same. Its behavior is more predictable as well. What you see is basically what you get and there might be fewer surprises for you in the long run.
Most dogs are housebroken already so they would cause lesser damage to your belongings and don't tend to wake up at night like most puppies do. They have usually outgrown the impulse of chewing things that strike its fancy. In addition, an older dog can easily adapt to other pets, like other dogs or cats.
A popular myth believes that older dogs will not bond to their new owners is definitely not true. If you invest the time and effort into developing a good relationship with your dog, bonding will happen regardless of age.
About the Author
Moses Wright owns 3 beautiful dogs and loves to help new puppy owners deal with their puppy problems whenever he can. You can get his dog obedience training book, a collection of his dog ownership experiences for free here: http://www.dogsobediencetraining.com/dogger_enews.htm
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